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“Okay, daddy. Good night.”

“Sleep well, honey. Good night.”

She handed the phone back to her mother, who hissed at her to stay in her bed before she spoke to me again.

“You can’t keep doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“You let her get away with anything when she’s with you. You’re doing it on purpose, so she’ll hate me. I won’t let you turn her against me.”

My chest tightened painfully. If I didn’t go along with what Val wanted, I was worried she’d try to take Sophie from me. We had a custody agreement, but she also had her cousin as her lawyer and they’d bury me if I caused any trouble. They alreadytook away more time than I wanted, forcing me to only see Sophie on the weekends.

“I’m trying, Val. I reminded her about her favorite things at your house. Maybe if you let her paint her room or–”

Val scoffed. “That is not important. She needs to focus on school. Her grades are dropping. Stop distracting her with childish things.”

I rolled my eyes, only because I knew she couldn’t see me. Sophie’s grades had nothing to do with her focus. I spoke to the school counselor, and she said every kid whose parents divorced went through something similar. Sophie needed more time and reassurance. She didn’t need Val hovering over her about her grades.

“We’ll work on her homework together. I promise.”

She made that irritated noise again and hung up without another word. I was expecting it, so it didn’t shock me like it used to. Tucking my phone back in my pocket, I leaned against the side of the club with a sigh.

I never expected my life to turn out like this. I did everything I was supposed to do. I studied hard in school, married my college sweetheart, got a stable, well earning job in accounting, and a big house. I thought my life was set. And once Sophie was born, I actually felt happy. But ten years later, everything fell apart. I came home from work one day to divorce papers on the table, and Val and Sophie’s bags were already packed. I’d been in a free fall ever since.

The door to the club swung open, and I nearly swallowed my tongue when a certain someone stepped outside. He had his arm around the drummer, Ruby, and a lazy smile on his face.

“Are your friends going to give you hell for missing poker night?” Ruby asked, looking at her phone. Probably ordering a ride.

“Felix will,” Hendrix drawled. “Maybe. I don’t know who showed up tonight. If there were enough people, he probably won’t say anything.”

My pulse spiked, my eyes locked on the couple. I loved the band itself, but a small part of me knew I showed up for him. Hendrix Lovegood was everything I wasn’t. A free spirit musician who lived life the way he wanted to live it. I never thought I’d have a crush on a man, but the feelings I harbored for the demon were borderline obsessive.

“Have I thanked you recently for moving in with me?”

Ruby shook her head, wry amusement overtaking her face. “Every day. Seriously, Hen, how do you get drunk off a couple of beers? I thought demons were tougher than this.”

Hendrix scrunched his nose adorably. “I’m a lightweight, you know that. It’s my dad’s greatest shame.” He flashed her a grin, leaning heavily against her. “You know you love me anyway.”

My spirit sank a little. I never had any intention of actually talking to him, much less admitting I was interested. My family would lose their minds if they knew I was interested in men. That didn't mean I couldn’t dream. Not knowing his relationship status made me feel less guilty about thinking about him like that. But I didn’t think I could ignore the fact that he had a girlfriend.

“Did Maya tell you this might be a recurring thing? Are your friends going to be pissed?”

I didn’t get to hear his reply because the rideshare stopped by the curb and Ruby shoved him into the back before he could answer. She put his guitar in back with him and shut the door, poking her head in through the passenger window.

“He’s probably going to fall asleep before he gets there. If you buzz apartment B, the guys will come grab him. I’ll send a big tip once I hear he’s home safe.”

The driver nodded, completely unfazed. She patted the top of the car, sending them on their way, before spinning around and heading back inside. I frowned, following the car with my eyes as it drove off. It seemed really unsafe to put a drunk person in the care of someone you don’t know. I almost wanted to follow them to make sure he got home safe. But that felt even more creepy than following a band around.

Resigned, I headed to my car. I needed to get some sleep, so I had plenty of energy to play with Sophie. Spending the entire week with her mom, who wasn’t a big fan of letting her play, she usually showed up bursting with energy. We spent most of the weekend playing together and running around so she could burn off as much energy as possible before going back to her mom’s Monday afternoon.

Sliding behind the wheel, I considered my next move. Val wanted Sophie to work on her grades. If Sophie came back having learned nothing, Val would start pushing to take more time away from me. I had to make a plan for Sophie to work on her grades while still letting her be a little kid. Maybe I could figure out a way to make her math homework fun. I was an accountant, after all. You didn’t get a career like mine without enjoying math, at least on some level.

CHAPTER THREE

HENDRIX

While the restof my friends had jobs during the day, I bounced around a lot to earn money. I taught some guitar lessons at a guitar shop in town once a week, did some modeling for an art studio, whatever I could get my hands on really. It wasn’t glamorous by any means, but it paid my portion of the bills. And I didn’t have to do as much now that I was splitting the rent with three people instead of one.